Kelly Clarkson Claims She Was ‘Blackmailed’ Into Working With Dr. Luke

In a new interview with KIIS 106.5 in Australia, Kelly Clarkson admitted she's long had issues with producer Lukasz Sebastian "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, claiming that the two "clashed" and that she was "blackmailed" by her label into working with him. The two worked on Clarkson's hits "Since U Been Gone" and "Behind These Hazel Eyes."

"He's just not a good person, to me. We've clashed," Clarkson told the radio station, after she was asked about her previous comments in reference to Kesha's ongoing legal battle with Gottwald. "I don't know what specifically what happened in their situation, I wasn't in the room — but I can remark on his character."

"Unfortunately, when you have that poor of character, when so many artists don't like working with you, that's not normal," Clarkson continued. "He's just not a good guy. For me."

Both Clarkson and Kesha are affiliated with Sony Records.

“He’s a talented dude but he’s just lied a lot,” she told KIIS. “I’ve run into a couple really bad situations. Musically, it’s been really hard for me because he will just lie to people. It’s like ‘What?’ It makes the artist look bad. He’s difficult to work with, kind of demeaning, it’s kind of unfortunate."

"People are like, well you’ve worked with Max [Martin] and Luke! And I’m like, Max and Luke are very different," she continued. "Obviously the dude is a talented guy but character-wise, no. I only worked with him – even the last time I worked with him – because literally I got blackmailed by my label. They were like we will not put your album out if you don’t do this."

Many celebrities spoke out in support of Kesha last month when a judge denied an injunction the "TiK ToK" singer was seeking against famed record producer Dr. Luke, whom the artist alleges mentally and sexually abused her over the course of several years. One of those artists, initially wrote a vague tweet about Dr. Luke but has recently elaborated on what she meant by her comment.

"Trying 2 not say anything since I can't say anything nice about a person... so this is me not talking about Dr. Luke," she wrote on February 19, quoting a strongly-worded tweet from musician Bethany "Best Coast" Cosentino.

Kesha, who claims Gottwald verbally and sexually abused her over the course of several years, is seeking to release new music entirely separate of the producer. However, Kemosabe Entertainment, Gottwald's label under Sony, will not release her from her contract.

Dr. Luke and his attorneys have denied the charges, and the producer tweeted his own views on the case on February 22. “I didn’t rape Kesha and I have never had sex with her. Kesha and I were friends for many years and she was like my little sister,” he wrote.